TaborTalk Blog

By Emma Goodman '11

It’s always nice to be able to help someone who has helped you. It may not be in equal measures, but you do what you can do. Tonight, Tabor faculty worked with our friends at Gifts to Give to figure out a way we could give a little something back to them for all they have done for us. We enjoyed the second annual fundraiser for Gifts to Give, held in Hoyt Hall at Tabor. It was a night of music featuring a local talent Tommy Booth, along with two faculty musicians: our Head of School John Quirk, and math teacher and hockey coach Gerry Dineen. I understand it was organized in part by Tabor house parents Eric and Nicole Long.

Reunion 2014 was a record breaking success for Tabor! We had the largest turnout of any reunion with over 600 people attending. The classes of 2009, 2003, 2004, 2005, 1989, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1979, 1974, 1964, 1959, 1949, 1944 and all Admirals were on hand to celebrate in grand fashion.

The success was all thanks to our alumni volunteers who stepped forward early on to help encourage classmates to come back, as well as to help support Tabor's fundraising efforts through the Fund for Tabor. Class committees were formed and monthly conference calls were scheduled to keep the teams on track. It was great to have so much involvement and we appreciate the effort from each of our volunteers.

Another factor in our success was the faculty. The weekend was moved up two weeks in order to be able to allow more faculty participation. They eagerly stepped forward to run fun activities with their former students such as kayak tours, teaching about our new oyster farm, small boat sailing, our famous Tabor Boy cruises, fun runs, yoga, a museum quality archive display, a golf outing, pottery demonstrations and so much more. Bruce Cobbold gave his "Last Lecture" at the Alumni Memorial Service, and alumni shook his hand and wished him well in his retirement as they exited Chapel, a wonderful moment for Mr. Cobbold. And Chef Andrew joined the fun to do a cooking demonstration!

Finally, I think the retooling of Reunion for our youngest guests was a smashing success. Noel Pardo, Director of Tabor Summer Programs, organized a mini-camp managed by his best camp counselors. The kids did arts and crafts, they swam and learned about the critters in our touch tank, they were all over campus enjoying all that Tabor has to offer.(Heads up to the moms and dads: we just might have put some ideas for their future education into their little heads!!)

Reunion Weekend is a time that all of us in the Advancement Office absolutely love. No matter what the activities, our alumni come back engaged and happy to be at Tabor. It is the spirit that makes the weekend so special. Everyone is happy and ready to have some fun, and eager to visit and catch up with faculty and friends. We eat, drink, dance, talk, relax, and just generally enjoy each other. It is the best of times and you really just shouldn't ever miss it! I think we should rename it the Tabor Family Reunion, because that is really what it is after all!

To enjoy more photos from the weekend, please visit our page on Facebook: Tabor Academy Alumni. Or visit our Shutterfly share site to view our photos and add your own.

Next year, our plan is to return to the classic format of five year reunions.

0's and 5's: YOU'RE UP!

We have been on quite a roll here at Tabor this past month as the year draws to a close next week. School ends on May 31, but the seniors graduate on Tuesday and they have been so busy getting in all their "lasts." The last games, concerts, tournaments, dance recital, madrigals concert, music recitals and, of course, Senior Projects really show off the talents our students have developed over their years at Tabor.

By Rob Hurd, Head Sailing Coach

This morning, we enjoyed the speeches of eleven students who aspire to being our next Co-Heads of School, our leaders of student government. I was inspired to create a post because of their excellence in presentation, as well as their clear thought as to what a Head of School can really do. There were no outlandish promises, (well, maybe one: abolishing Saturday Classes) but more a description of passionate commitment to all that Tabor is and can become. It was really impressive. They were prepared; they are ready to take the mantel.

By Becky Love, Events Coordinator, Advancement

Amy Richards '88 with Tinker Saltonstall, former faculty

On Thursday last week, Amy Richards '88 came to campus to speak to our community. Amy is a published author, blogger, speaker, and women's rights activist, and has most recently been involved in promoting a documentary film she has helped to get off the ground called Makers.

Makers is a compilation of stories of individual women and their role in advancing women's rights or the positive image of women in America. (The idea was to create a film about the women who helped "make" America.) The women tell their stories through interviews, each having taken a stand to highlight an injustice, or maybe as the first woman to do some activity, job, etc. As an example, Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman Supreme Court Justice is a "maker," as are Katie Couric and Oprah Winfrey. The interviews are being brought to campuses across the country, which is part of Amy's role in the project, and were aired in full in a three hour movie on PBS last February. See www.makers.com for more information or to watch some of the many interviews. It is an impressive and massive undertaking!

In her talk, Amy shared an interview (click here) with us of the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, Katherine Switzer, and some footage of a race official who tried to forcefully removed her from the race. The woman said she just wanted to run, and was supported by her boyfriend who blocked the official so she could run on and ultimately finish the race. For our students, who take women in sports for granted, it was a bit of an eye opener to learn that women have not always had those opportunities: even at Tabor. It also showed an example of how men have helped to advance women over the years, foreshadowing a final point about how we can all take action.

Amy spoke a bit about what it was like at Tabor as one of the early classes with boarding girls when the school moved back to co-education after a twenty year hiatus. It was during this time that she found her voice as a leader, helping administrators to see certain inequalities (like in sports equipment, uniforms and facilities) as well as biases teachers might have had about academic skills girls either had or did not have. She also shared much of what she loved about Tabor: her friends, teachers and role models, and the challenging academic environment.

Amy told us that the women's movement today is really about fairness, and fairness for all people not just women. She encouraged both the girls and the boys in our community to stand up for fairness in humanity as simply the right thing to do. She asked us specifically to think about how we speak to each other, how we talk about others, what we do with social media etc, to determine if the way we are acting is detrimental to others. She argued that girls and boys can make a difference, for instance, in the high rates of sexual assault across college campuses cited in the news these days, by calling out these behaviors, stepping in to stop a negative situation from developing, or altering and labeling some of the language we use that might lead to devaluing people as being unacceptable. She pointed out that sexual assault, like many issues feminists care about, is not soley a woman's issue as it affects us all, women and men, as well as our families and society.

Amy challenged us to think and act differently in the name of fairness. Indeed, we can all make a difference through our positive words and actions in support of each other.

Thanks for coming, Amy, and sharing your insights with us.

The opening song!

Enjoy this video, created by John Rice '70, about the first half of the first cruise of our 2014 Caribbean Studies Program. The students are learning about their gear, perfecting their snorkeling skills and now getting into the research portion of their trip. Stay tuned for another video later this week.

On November 9, the undefeated football team of 1963 reunited on the legendary Tabor field. They came from far and wide to remember the glory days of that fall season as young men, invincible. And, they came to honor one of their own, Bill Illingworth ‘65, a war hero in Vietnam who earned a Purple Heart and served fifteen years with the Army Medical Corps as a Lt. Col., and as a doctor for his community ever since. The team had collected memories and stories, and gathered to unveil and celebrate a more permanent memorial, a commemorative bench overlooking their field, and a scholarship for future Tabor students in Bill’s name. Little did the men know that they would become a part of a larger story, also one of permanence, unfolding around them.